Fatima opened the door, and her eyes lit up like they did every time she saw me. That light in her eyes made all my fears melt away. I wasn’t sure why she didn’t want me to touch her, but it couldn’t be my lack of luminescence, could it? Not when she smiled at me like that.
Her belly seemed even bigger now than this morning. The sight of it made me want to puff out my chest with pride. Fatima and her child were well taken care of because of me. Even if she never fully claimed me as her mate, her child would only know love and safety. I did not care that they were not from my seed, they would be mine all the same.
“Thank you, Zander,” Fatima said as she rose onto her tippy toes and kissed me on the cheek.
Her kisses always left me at a loss for words, so I grunted my acknowledgment instead. I think Fatima knew exactly what kind of effect she had on me, because she would just laugh if I became tongue tied.
“Shall we get going?” she asked.
“Unless you prefer to eat at my place,” I suggested and her cheeks turned red.
“No, that’s okay. I’d prefer to eat dinner in the dining hall with the others,” she smiled.
“Then let us head that way,” I nodded with a knowing smile. I had a pleasing effect on her as well.
We walked together in silence at a slow pace. Ever since her belly started to grow, Fatima’s gait had slowed considerably. I was happy to slow my pace to be by her side. I’d do far more than that to be near her as often as I could.
Once inside, we sat at a table with Drovo, Kayla, and baby Kavo. The sietling was smaller than most his age, but he seemed to be a happy baby nonetheless.
“Is Kavo sleeping through the night yet?” Fatima asked.
“Not yet,” Kayla shook her head and yawned.
“I think he just likes spending time with us,” Drovo commented with a proud smile.
Kayla huffed out a laugh, “he’s five weeks old, I’m not sure he cares about anything other than eating.”
“I don’t know,” Drovo began as he looked down at the small sietling in his arms. “I could have sworn I saw him smile this morning when you walked in the room.”
“You’re just trying to make me feel better,” Kayla rolled her eyes.
“Is it working?” Drovo asked with a knowing grin.
“Maybe,” his mate smiled up at him.
Fatima smiled at them both as she ate her bacon and pancakes.
“That’d be awful,” I could hear Ashley speaking with Beatrice at the table next to ours.
“It’s a possibility,” Beatrice commented. “Anusha could have luminessed to Gil, and maybe the reason why he hasn’t brought her back is because he’s injured.”
“What if he died?” Ashley replied. “I don’t know if Anusha would ever find her way back to us.”
“Could you imagine?” Talia joined in.
“I can’t think of anything worse than having your luminescence mate die,” Sarah sighed. Then her eyes went wide as she slowly turned toward Fatima and me as the room fell silent.
My heart squeezed. I had made peace with Riella’s death long ago, but I wasn’t sure if Fatima had made peace with Drelic’s passing.
I placed my hand over hers and she gave me a half smile.
“I’m so sorry,” Sarah apologized. “That was insensitive of me.”
“It’s alright,” Fatima waved her comment away.
Everyone’s eyes turned to me and I felt pressured to say something as well.
“It was a long time ago,” I grunted.
